Did I Tell You How Much I Hate the Military?

Then click here.

Tell me if you hate the military.

Phil Knight Condemns Democrats

If you're a Duck, you know the name Phil Knight.

If you're a Duck, there's a good chance you can't do the math.

What I never expected, is to find a Duck that would publicly tell you what you don't want to hear: your Oregon Legislature is a bunch of mind-dead idiots that will kill the private sector in Oregon.

I'm not making this up. These are his words:

"Measures 66 and 67 should be labeled Oregon's Assisted Suicide Law II.

"They will allow us to watch a state slowly killing itself.

"They are anti-business, anti-success, anti-inspirational, anti-humanitarian, and most ironically, in the long run, they will deprive the state of tax revenue, not increase it."

Hippies should take note: we can't afford this state's increased expenditures on Pixie Dust and Unicorns.

At a certain point, when the ship is going down, you've got to start patching the leaks. Manning the pumps.

Twenty-four years of Democrat governors has left Oregon without any executive defense against the crimes of a legislature. Now we have both a governor and an attorney general fighting against investments in rural Oregon. And our Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Schools are equally weak sisters.

The rot in Oregon is spread through the conivance of our Teachers Unions, our public employee unions, and every hippie that lives on the rest of us for his, or her, pot, food and clothing.

We're not to notice that most of us pay for the rest of us...and that ratio is flipping. We're at the point where we are spending more money through our government, than we invest or spend on capital or private sector employees.

e-Claire recently posted about the problem facing California awhile ago.

"Our economy is diverse, whereas our tax system is not; 144,000 taxpayers pay almost 50 percent of all personal income taxes. Now, think about that—38 million Californians have to rely on 144,000 people for their schools, their fire protection, their health care, their public safety and so many other services. That makes absolutely no sense."

That is zero point zero zero three percent of California's population.

I'm gonna guess that Phil Knight is a large part of Oregon's 0.003 percent of wage earners.

We can chase all the smart guys who want to earn profit from the state. Make a new Utopia. Thing is, it's going to stink. No one will be able to pay for garbage collection.

Yet, mebbe, for the hippies, the smell is part of the attraction.

Your thoughts?

h/t Rob Kremer.

Next Time, We Won't Be So Lucky

Listening to this, one begins to sense how weak the appeal of socialism is in America.

There is a subset of true believers who will listen to these words as a clarion call to action. It isn't. What it is is a pathetic example of the denouement of socialism in the current political environment.

This isn't the product of the mainstream media. It is a product of radio and the alternative media; the intertubes.

I define the mainstream media as those television stations who broadcast the national news programs produced in their New York or Atlanta offices. It also includes those newspapers that are owned either by national newspaper companies, or locally by publishers who wish to presume that their voice rises to the level of their richer, more elite, national publisher friends.

Mimicry, as a form of elitism. Rather pathetic, neh?

This time around, the rush to socialism has been muted by the inherent weakness of the argument that the government is a better provider than the private system. Sure, they could buy the votes of a senator or two. Why else would we know of the Louisiana Purchase, or the Nebraska Compromise?

Teams of union activists have been meeting with the President, attempting to carve out deals that favour unions while placing the costs of their Healthcare Reform upon anyone else not standing in the room. The waft of corruption in Washington, D.C. is matched only by the waft of corruption eminating from the Governor's office in Salem.

Listen to the President of the United States of America. He wasn't coerced into making this statement. He is the Leader of the Free World. And next time, they won't rely upon Representatives and Senators willing to be corrupt. They'll have guns.

So, watch this video. And enjoy the "untying". Oh, and buckle your seatbelt. You're in for one helluva bumpy ride.

Take the Test

You can click on the test to get a bigger version.

If you're smarter than I, prove it. Post your answers under comments. I'll grade you.

There is no curve.

God Save the Queen

Few of us remember Edward the King. Georges? Prolly don't remember them, either. The big two are Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth. We're helped here on the North Coast due to the number of Victorian homes that remain. (Oh, that Victoria.)

From what I've read, the Queen is looking past her son to her grandson. Perhaps, in fifty years, our kids will be able to view a pictorial review like the one here.

Sure, But What About His Parents?

So here's the story.

"A Nehalem-area man was arrested by Oregon State Police (OSP) during a traffic stop near Eugene after he was found in possession of approximately 1/2 lb. of marijuana and Psilocybin mushrooms. In addition to the drug seizure, firearms, a machete, and Samurai sword were also found inside the man's car.

"On January 12, 2010 at 1:50 p.m. and OSP trooper stopped a 1991 Acura four-door driven by GARY MORTENSEN, age 26, from Nehalem, northbound on Interstate 5 near Eugene for an expired vehicle registration and improper lane change violation. Subsequent investigation during the stop led to the discovery of the following:



* two firearms, one of which was an assault style rifle
* knifes
* a machete
* a Samurai sword
* 1/2 lb. of marijuana
* Hashish
* Psilocybin mushrooms
* Digital scales, packaging materials and drug paraphernalia




MORTENSEN was arrested with incident and lodged in the Lane County Jail for Unlawful Possession and Delivery of Marijuana, and Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance - Psilocybin Mushrooms.

Photograph Source: Oregon State Police

1969

I was in 9th grade.

My dad was at, or near, his personal zenith.

In May of 1969, my dad had a chance to work with two musicians that he lobbied hard to attend the Music in May conference held at Pacific University. His buddy, over at Lewis & Clark College, and he worked to bring some of the most talented men of music to Forest Grove for that year's festival. Stanley Glarum had the title as choral conductor, and my dad gladly worked under him as a section leader.

But that year had a payday better than any my dad and Mr. Glarum had ever thought of; it gave them a chance to work with two of the more important American musicians that lived, and a new arrangement that lives with us today.

Carmen Dragon and Jester Hairston.

Pop was born in 1916, so at age 52, he was then at around the age I am now.

And that Spring, he had a chance to encourage a wonder; the most beautiful arrangement of "America the Beautiful" ever. And that's saying something, since the previous version of the song's best arrangement was also the product of Carmen Dragon.

Music In May is a premier music event. Honor musicians from around the state show up in Forest Grove: vocalists, strings and band. What had happened before 1969 was a combined string and band rendition of Dragon's America. What happened that year was that the old guys--dad included--pressed upon Carmen to review his earlier arrangement.

What came from that collaboration was sheer beauty.

Now, I can't complain too much about the intertubes. Because of a source like YouTube, I've found the best version of this arrangement that was available. It isn't perfect. It is good.

But while I spent this time searching, I've been able to find a couple of other Dragon tunes that I'd like you to hear.

The first is the original version of the Dragon America without chorus.



Then I must share with you a song that I lived with as a small boy. Again, it is a composition by Carmen Dragon. It has the same hiss and pops that I remember as a boy. This song says in a few minutes things I can never say if I write for years.



And so, finally, I offer you the arrangement that occured in May, in Forest Grove, back in 1969.

Carmen Dragon's arrangement of "America, the Beautiful" for orchestra and choir. When you hear the French Horns, I was lucky enough to be playing First Horn in 1972. When my son played, he was lucky enough to be First Oboe in 2008. Three generations playing with the same organization. I'm just glad to be an American. I'm just sorry I wasn't able to find a video of the kids playing that year. As I recall, there was a power outage during the recording...



God bless you.

The History of Political Correctness

Between the Census Bureau and Senator Ried, the Left doesn't know which way to turn.

If we don't have "good" numbers on race, how can we be sure that we're racist? And is a naturalized immigrant from Somalia really an African-American, or "merely" African? And what about a white dude from South Africa? Is he an African-American? Or, more correctly, some white dude from Africa?

The Left speaks in code, and if you don't know the code, chances are you're going to stray over the line of what is, or isn't, politically correct.

The wrong word and you might be labelled a racist, sexist or worse, a bully. You might be engaged in hate speech and find yourself afoul of our benevolent criminal justice system.

Time To Cleanse Your Eyes

Thanks to Zeta for the find.

Thanks to Doc for this post.

Do You Believe You Can Say What You Mean?

I don't.

And I know that there are people at work to deny your voice on the intertubes.

I received a letter from Oregon Congressman Greg Walden, today.

I'm on a list, I'm sure, of Oregonians who have made their views on communications clear. There have been a lot of technological changes in the past twenty to forty years. Perhaps you've noticed.

What you may not have thought about is, that the government has unimpeded access to regulate certain technologies. When the Constitution was written, certain limitations were written into the Constitution. Thanks to case law lawyers, we're finding out that certain constraints upon the government haven't adapted to the times; among these are the "rights" of broadcasters.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was created during Roosevelt's term, in 1934. A lot of assumptions about "freedom of speech" and "freedom of the press" don't correlate with the broadcast industry.

Because broadcasters rely upon a radio spectrum--that runs from subHertz to Terahertz--broadcasters have been licensed to use a "portion" of the radio spectrum since the passage of the "Communications Act of 1934" since 1934. That licensing of radio spectrum has never included the inherent rights of freedom of speech. Usage of "spectrum" has always been mandated by the FCC, which is a creature of the Congress.

Congress is currently reviewing the ability of small market and large market radio and television stations to determine, independently, the content (programming), that is carried on these radio and television stations.

There are persons within the FCC who are radically opposed to independent television and radio operators from deciding what is the best role that they can play when it comes to gaining viewers in their television and radio markets. That is, the FCC is wondering whether or not it should mandate content.

I haven't viewed any broadcast television, except for a few sports events, in years.

But the purview of the FCC isn't limited to the content of broadcast television, nor broadcast radio. It also includes satellite transmission and cable. Everything that exists in its' delivery from
subHertz to Terahertz. It includes your access to the intertubes. Radio. Televison. Cable.

I'm not a stranger to the possibility of an assault on our communications. I've a sister who lives in Beijing, and am aware of the fact that the government there is more than willing to suspend cellphone operations when the need occurs. Remember, that cellphone frequencies run from 806Mhz to 2690Mhz. All clearly within the purview of the FCC.

What prompted Congressman Walden's letter was an article by FCC's new "broadcast hit man," Stuart Benjamin. I've already written about this guy (see immediate link above).

You and I know that our government is actually colluding against us. They want the product of our labour without having to work. They want us to give and give and give, and when we quit, they'll support us. (Yeah, sure.)

Your local newspapers have become the objects lessons of politically correct thinking. You don't get information that helps you determine the best choices you may make to allow you to determine your own life. You're told that unless you agree to the common narrative, that you're a part of the problem.

I hesitate, but I must: this is a false dichotomy.

If you find that you can't get information from the mainstream media, perhaps you would be wise to look for information elsewhere.

Like the intertubes.

While you can.

How To Talk With Teachers

Teachers.

As an adult, the idea of having a conversation with a teacher is probably abhorrent. Who, having successfully escaped the public school system, feels a need to spend time talking with the petty tyrants who spent so much of your developmental years terrorizing you?

Then you become an adult. Then a parent. Then, your kids come under the sway of those teachers.

Teachers are an extremely pernicious lot.

You've been told from an early age that teachers are underpaid. You've been told that without good teachers, your kids won't learn.

You've been told a lot of things. All of them by teachers. And their union.

What do teachers teach?

It isn't math, reading and writing, although there is a level of success in the "Three R's" that allows them to escape a closer examination. Kid can read a phone bill? Okay. Kid understand the phone bill? Not very likely.

Remember this? This is a normal Bell Curve. There is a certain amount of math that understanding the normal Bell Curve requires, but I gave that to you here.

Given normal distribution, the Bell Curve can tell you a very important thing; about two-thirds of any population lies under the portion of the curve that is limited by the first standard deviation. (Actually, it is slightly larger than two-thirds, at sixty-eight percent.)

Did you ever think you were a genius?

What would it take, statistically, for you to be described as a "genius"?

Chances are, you're not.

In fact, the chance that you're at or above genius level is less than one in an hundred. And yet, all your friends--pretty smart cookies themselves--believe you're a genius, and why not?

It is disheartening to find that most of the people you know are average. And, that you are average. If you're under the age of thirty, chances are that your teachers told you, you are special, even if you're not.

Self-esteem is what is taught today at our public schools. Not reality. Not that the world is tough, and if you're not smart, you better get into shop before the truth comes out.

Imagine, being taught that if you can pretend you're a letter, that you're doing a good job.

She's on a bike. She's cool. She's a "drama" teacher for elementary kids. Yeah, that's what we need more of. "Create the revolution in their own lives." Yep. I want my kids exposed to this "teacher".

The next guy? The advisor for the "Uganda Sister School Club." We're teaching our kids about "sharing" and "sisterhood." Look, the White Man's Burden!



This is a form of racism that I'd had hoped would have been eliminated in the last 40 years. "The black people need us!"

You want exciting education? Then sign up for the next OEA convention!

Low expectations! Heck, no! We can't tell kids they need to work harder. Or, hold them back. (We can't hold them back, we gave them pre-school!) (Does she actually say, "ascared"?)



Here's one of my fav's .

This guy is a total fem. He's an effective teacher because he's bringing money into a public school to allow the district, or school, administrator, to divert funds from teaching to other uses. Prolly football.

"Share the Wealth!"

Yeah, this is what I want my kids to learn about. Screw the facts of life, that life is hard, you've gotta be smart, and that the smarter guy is trying to take your job, your rice bowl.

This is the epitome of public school education. If you have kids in the district, chances are that they had to perform "public service" as a requirement for their graduation. Why? Because Father Marx tells us, we need to expropriate the Capitalist!



How do you talk to a teacher?

If you were born after 1970, chances are you're terrified of talking to a teacher.

During the 196o's, the curriculum was changed. It became a progressive curriculum. Hippies gained social prominence, and old fashioned ideas, like patriotism and Americanism, became passé. Old. Old fashioned. Obsolete through declaration of obsolescence.

As the productive members of the Baby Boomers come to an end, the dominance of practical values as taught values in our public schools, is also subsiding. We've been babying our children in the style with which we were taught values. It's not our fault if we fail.

And there is the dividing line.

It's not our fault if we fail. The difference is, I am responsible for my failure.

This next generation has been taught that if "I" fail, I can rely upon those around me to support me.

Huh? WTF?

Failure comes to those who chance. We use our ideas and our muscles to propel us to success. Every now and then we make millions--now billions--and then, every now and then, we fail. And we lose everything. Or a lot of our stuff.

Our teachers aren't teaching our own kids about the miracle that is America. That if you have a good idea, there are no limits to the success that you can achieve. Likewise, they aren't teaching our kids that if you make mistakes, you can lose everything.

Instead, they teach that we all must share, and that sharing is the highest, greatest good.

You wonder why we're killing the private sector in Oregon? Because nobody in your public school system has the intelligence or command of the facts to point out that the only sector in your city, in your county, the state or country that creates wealth is the private sector.

Oregon will fail to repeal the taxes imposed by the Oregon legislature, and referred to the voters as Ballot Measures 66 & 67. I know that. We have too many electors that have no idea of what their vote means. Voting for "good" is good. Voting for "bad" is bad.

Teachers are telling their students that voting for taking less from the private sector is bad. And they're telling their students to tell mom and dad that voting against tax increases will mean that their kids will get worse education.

And I can't think of a single, greater lie.

How to talk with teachers?

It's something you really need to think about.

They will call you names. They will ridicule you.

See, that's what teachers are taught and it's what they practise.

Disagree with a teacher and you'll be called a name. Like, "asshole". Or, "redneck". Or, ignorant, mis-guided, illiterate, ignorant, Republican, conservative, Christian, anti-Social, racist, Tea-bagger, ill-guided, intemperate, mis-guided, over-reactive, over-caring, home schooler, and the list goes on.

I've told you before, that when the Left is confronted, they respond with name-calling. And teachers are the coven of the Left.

So, how do you talk with teachers?

Tell them what you want, and wait for the name-calling. And it will occur. It may be inferential, like, "you know, you really should look for help with your anger." Or, "you know, you really don't have a reason to believe the way you believe." Both of these statements will lead you to believe that you're at fault. But you aren't. They are implying in the first case, that you're at fault for hating their socialist crap. In the second case, they imply that you can't find your bottom with both hands. In the third case, they are simply saying that your view of the world is so out of concordance with "the rest of us", that you are simply crazy.

You're not.

But, remember, and this should make you angry; they use these verbal admonishments on your children every day.

Teachers spend every day mocking, diminshing and admonishing your children. And they get paid prime bucks to do so.

We've lost the current round to the teachers' unions. We're going to further reduce the ability of private industries and businesses to pay their bills. We're on a track to build a Pixie Dust Industry in order to achieve bankruptcy, and in the process I can only hope that kids will learn that socialism is a prescription for poverty.

I mean, of course, social justice. We don't call is "socialism" any more. That's not progressive.

You're kids are being taught that it's cool to help others. They aren't being taught that their primary responsibility is to learn of how to provide for themselves and for their families.

And as taxpayers, we continue to pay their salaries.

Our American Presidency

Teh Kids have no idea who David Stockman is, and what role he played during the Reagan White House.

It's too bad that the incident involving "the woodshed" has been wiped from the narrative story of the Reagan White House. It was a wonderful story of politics, policy, leadership and loyalty. Virtually unseen in today's political environment.

So give a few minutes to the following video. And remember the days when the
White House was more about leadership and less about consensus.



Is character an issue in today's White House? Prolly not.

The Inconsistency of Climate Critics

Roger Simon found this food critic hard at work criticising those who criticise Man Made Global Warming.

It is comedic in its confusion. Take this sentence:

"Nobody who understands the science is claiming that global warming (if it happens) is going to make Britain hotter in the long run."

I've written some sentences that, upon reflection, made absolutely no sense. But I don't think anything I've ever written has risen to the level of absurdity that is incapsulated by this single sentence. And we've only gotten to the second paragraph of this man's writing.

I shudder every time I hear our President say "let me be clear," just as I shudder when I hear Speaker of the House Pelosi talking about the "most ethical Congress ever." Or Senate Majority Leader Reid talk about "openess and transparency."

Before us now in Oregon is a ballot measure to repeal taxes imposed by our last legislature. Why do we need to increase taxes? It could be because we have spent, and promise to spend, too much money. And rather than cut expenditures in a down economy, we want instead to transfer more cash from the private sector in order to protect jobs in the public sector.

'Cause the public sector is important, and the private sector is all greedy and stuff.